Making the SilverMAX Colloidal Silver Generator

Introduction: Making the SilverMAX Colloidal Silver Generator

My mother in-law was getting into the use of Colloidal Silver as a healing salve for cuts and even burns. Silver is known to have antiseptic properties, and if you are into the use of Colloidal Silver, you will quickly realize that it is fairly expensive to purchase from a health food store. There are silver generators available all over the internet, and though these are simple devices their prices range from $200-$400. That being said the goal of this project was to design an advanced Colloidal Siver Generator that would provide all the features / functionality of the top of the line generators currently on the market at an extremely low cost.

If you are interested in building this project yourself, be sure to download the project files using the 'Project Download' link below. Also, I have put together an accompanying video which goes through the build as well. There also may be a ‘Makerspace’ in your area that could help you with the build if you are not familiar with producing etched circuit boards at home, soldering, etc…

Step 1: Etching the Circuit Boards

There are two boards in this project which can either be on the same board, or broken up into two separate boards. The interface component works nicely as a separate board as it’s layout can be used as a template for the mounting holes in the enclosure. The other benefit being that the board is mounted to the enclosure using the panel mount toggle switches.

To produce circuit boards at home I use the toner transfer method. In the past I have used a Glossy Photo paper, however I have found simple ( and cheap ) Magazine Paper is the most effective medium for transferring the toner to the copper clad board. I have a fairly old Samsung ML-1740 laser printer that I use which works well enough. When feeding the Magazine Paper into the printer it is much easier if you place it on top of a standard sheet of plain printer paper.

Prepare the circuit boards by cutting them to size, cleaning with a scotchbrite pad, and then with Acetone. Be sure to wear some type of rubber gloves, as the oils from your fingers will most likely ruin the transfer. When the boards are prepared, cut the printed circuits to size, place over the copper board and tape. I have found, at least with my laminator, that at least on the first two passes the paper can move ( possibly not the case with a more expensive laminator ). I have one of those cheap $19 purple cow laminators from Costco, which works fine, but I have to run the boards through 7-10 times to get a good transfer. Place the boards into water ( or run under the faucet ) in order to remove the Magazine Paper. I have found that it is extremely easy to remove the paper, and the traces turn out perfect almost every time.

With the toner transferred to the boards, prepare a small sponge that you will use with a small amount of Ferric Chloride to etch the boards ( if you use something else by all means go for it ). You can attain the needed chemicals from your local RadioShack. I like to work over a disposable Rubbermaid container, and be sure to wear rubber gloves. Saturate a small sponge with a small amount of Ferric Chloride. Gently rub the sponge back and forth over the board, and within about 5 minutes the board should be etched. Rinse the finished boards off with water, and then clean the remaining toner off with Acetone.

You can now optionally add the silkscreen layer to the boards if you like. You would simply print out a mirror image from the eagle file ( or use the pdf which is already mirrored ). You transfer the toner to the fiberglass and remove the Magazine Paper under water.

Step 2: Drill & Populate the Boards With the Components

I don’t have anything too fancy for drilling the boards, though taping them down to a piece of junk 1/8″ plywood is helpful. I use tungsten carbide micro drills that I got dirt cheap off of ebay in my floor model drill press, though any drill press will do.

Photos definitely do this step more justice than words, but basically solder all the components on the boards that you just made. If you take a look at the video I have a frame by frame section of the board being populated with the components.

Step 3: Test the Electronics

You will need to create a few cables that run from the interface board to the 10k Panel Mount Potentiometers, and also two cables from the 4 conductor intercom wire. The controller should have two 1×4 Molex KK 2.54mm friction lock headers which these two cables will connect to. One end of the cables are soldered directly to the interface board, while the other end is setup with the Male Molex 1×4 KK crimp housings. If you want you can solder the cables directly to the Controller and not bother with the Molex cables, however it could be a pain to work with.

You will also make two more cables from 2 conductor telephone cable ( or speaker wire ). One of the cables is used for the electrodes, and the other for the connection between the interface board and the laser module. Do not solder the alligator clips onto the electrode wires at this time, but you can strip the ends down such that you can test the voltage with a multimeter when you turn the device on ( same goes for the laser +/- cable ).

Using a PICKit2 ( or 3 ) and the 1×6 PICKIT header on the Controller you can now program the PIC12F510 using the ‘SilverMAX.hex’ file found in the ‘Software’ directory of the download for the project.

To test the generator at this stage you will want to use the 12VDC wall wart and plug it in. Mess with the switches a bit to ensure that all the indicator lights are working as expected. Then you can proceed to test the variable speed fan control, by switching the Magnetic Stirrer Enable switch on, the Run / Standby switch on, and the Power switch on. You can then adjust the Magnetic Stirrer’s speed knob watching for a change in speed of the fan. Next you will want to test the output leads for the Laser – you should see a +5V there with a multimeter. You can now proceed to test the electrode output – you should see +12V or -12V. Every minute or so you should also hear a clicking sound from the relay on board, and should also notice the polarity of the electrode leads switching automatically.

Step 4: The Magnetic Stirrer

The Magnetic Stirrer in this generator is basically a 12VDC power supply fan with 2 rare earth magnets epoxied to the center of the moving part of the fan. You do need to be careful when placing the magnets, as orientation matters. If done incorrectly you will find the stir bar rotating on the outside of the flask, versus spinning in the middle ( watch the video for a visual of this ).

Test the hold of the magnets on the stir bar, by placing the stir bar in your flask and holding it over the magnets. Ensure that the bar locks in the center of the flask and spins appropriately when you turn the fan by hand.

Place the magnets on the fan, ensure the orientation is correct, and then prepare the 5 minute epoxy according to the directions on the package. Glue the magnets down to the moving part of the fan ( they should stick to the magnet in the fan, and be on the outer edge ). As the epoxy sets up move the magnets in a bit closer to the center without having them touch ( can be a bit tricky ).

Once the epoxy has set, I attached a screen of sorts to the back of the fan in order to protect the electronics / cables. I used a cut piece of scotchbrite pad and zip ties for this – the scotchbrite came in a 12×12 sheet and was porous enough for air to flow through it.

Step 5: Preparing the Enclosure

The project download includes all the required templates to modify a 120mm square project enclosure to house this project. Using the first ‘fan mount’ print out you can accurately locate the 4 mounting holes for the fan at the center of the enclosure ( if the fan is 80mm square that is ).

Once the fan mounting holes are drilled, prepare the mounting posts. I used 8-32 x 1″ machine screws with 2 washers and 1 nut as a spacer between the enclosure and the fan body to provide enough clearance for the magnets.

Using the ‘silver_generator_v1_interface_template.pdf’ print out the template for the interface board’s mounting holes. Tape the template to the face of the enclosure and drill accordingly. I find using a center punch to mark the holes first is extremely helpful at drilling these holes accurately.

Locate two holes in the back of the enclosure, one for the electrode cable and one for the panel mount DC jack. Locate another hole on the right side of the enclosure for the laser light cable. Drill these holes out.

With the interface holes drilled, fit the two 10k panel mount potentiometers and lock in place with their locking nuts. Carefully place the interface board in the enclosure, and line up the switches and leds with the drilled out holes. Push into place and lock down the interface board using the panel mount switch nuts.

It’s now time to put the fan back into the enclosure on the mounting posts and then lock it into place using 4 additional nuts. It is a bit tight space wise, but I was able to get it done with a little effort.

Next you will want to place the controller board on the Fan’s screen, and then mount the DC jack to the case via the hole that was drilled out for it. Also, run the electrode cable through the hole in the back of the enclosure, and the laser cable through the hole that you drilled in the side of the enclosure.

You can close the enclosure for now.

Step 6: Additional Preparations

You will now need to solder the alligator clips to the two conductors used in the electrodes cable. You should also solder the laser module to the two conductors used in the laser cable. A bit of heatshrink tubing will protect the soldered portion of the laser’s cable. The insulation on the alligator clips should cover, and protect the solder joints at the electrodes.

You will need to take the #7 rubber stopper for the Flask, and drill two holes, about 3/4″ apart, that will fit the two 14 gauge 99.99% pure silver wires snugly. The wires I used were 5″, however I would recommend using 6″ wires with the 500ml flask. Push the two silver wires carefully into the stopper, ensuring that they are parallel to each other.

Step 7: Testing the Colloidal Silver Generator

You should now have a 100% functional Colloidal Silver Generator at this point minus the laser mount. To test everything out place the stirbar in the flask, and fill to the top with distilled water ( leaving space for the rubber stopper of course ). Place the rubber stopper with electrodes on the flask, and then position the flask on the generator. Hook up the two electrodes via the alligator clips ( polarity does not matter ).

At this point you are ready to test things out. I would recommend looking at the ‘Instructions.doc’ file in the ‘Documents’ folder of the project download file on the projects page.

Some simple tests to start, would be to ensure that the magnetic stirrer is working as expected – turn the power on, run / standby to on, stirrer enable to on, and then adjust the speed with the left adjustment knob. You should also try the laser on / off switch ensuring that the laser is working as expected. I would recommend at this point letting the generator run for 5 hours with the right knob set at the middle position. You should purchase a TDS meter to determine the ppm of silver produced after that time period – my first prototype device produced 15ppm of colloidal silver in 5hrs.

Step 8: The Laser Mount

I built the laser mount from 3 layers of 1/8″ ABS plastic sheet glued together with pvc cement. You can get an idea of how it looks from the video / photos, and also from the template file included in the project download.

Step 9: Final Thoughts

That just about covers the build of the SilverMAX Colloidal Silver Generator. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment and I’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as I can. If you have an interest in purchasing a kit, or boards, let me know – at this point I’m not planning on selling kits, but if there is substantial interest it may be something that I will do in the future.

Cheers, Morgan

Comments

Would I need to make changes to anything if I were to use .9999 silver Troy ounce $5 Canadian coins X 2 instead of silver wire? Would I be able to achieve the desired effects using the rounds vs wire to warrant using rounds? Curious because .9999 wire costs substantially more than the .9999 round.

Great project, really nice finish. I've been thinking about building something similar but using discrete electronics for the control of the unit, I've been looking at your C files, can you please explain the logic that the PIC is performing ? It seems quite simple but I'm used to program Arduinos and I'm having problems understanding exactly how it performs as I dont understand the hardware of the PIC. The comparator is sensing the Voltage and cutting off the power to the electrodes when a certain voltage is reached ? Would you please explain the logic of the program in just a few sentences ? I appreciate a lot making your project available for others to build and tinker with.

I am the Mother in law this device was produced for. Now that I have had a chance to test it and make a few batches I have to say it is fantastic. It is easy to use and looks first rate. The laser is a nice feature. While I would still suggest using a meter, it gives a good indication of when you could stop production and have a very good product, ready to use. I am VERY satisfied. Thanks Morgan.

Sorry for the delay in my response. Yes, I did let Morgan know there was a question. He's a super busy guy. So it's great he could respond. Yes, I do still really like my generator. I have used it extensively. The only thing I might change would be making the leads longer for the type of flask I use. Other than that, it's perfect for my use. I do like the laser to see if there are particles floating around. That's a nice touch.

This internet stuff constantly amazes me that all this information is out there, and we can even communicate at all.

So to have you reply, even if it were days or weeks later, let alone the few hours later you DID reply since my message to you, is GREATLY appreciated..!

His information helped me use a PIC chip programmer I already have.

His design will help me save on the electronics part of it.

Because of that, I was able to spend more on the better silver instead.

I'm happy the generator is still useful to you, and works well.

I'm planning on using a green laser module, because I happen to have a 5 milliwatt one I recently got from china. :)

Thanks for letting him know a question was waiting.

He asked me to keep him informed on my progress...I sure will...along with any changes I make, like using surface-mount-devices (SMD) to shrink the entire board. But that's just a thought for now.

I'm also planning to use a 1000 mL container, the same as the SilverLungs system uses. I was going to buy the SilverLungs system, but the salesmen was giving conflicting information in his eMail answers to me, from what his web-site showed, and I couldn't see paying so much for his design, that, by the way, looked like another companies design he may have copied.

Ha Ha..!

Besides, that guy is making people wait over 4 weeks before shipping it out.

Maybe he's having problems getting the .9999% silver now, and may send out lower-quality silver without the customer knowing.

At least I know mine is the highest quality .99999 (99.999%)

Purchased from a known reputable metal foundry, with assay certificate.